


Salt and Honey

by Fictionista654



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 23:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18271586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fictionista654/pseuds/Fictionista654
Summary: Either Morgana’s the most oblivious maiden in the land, or Gwen is just very bad at wooing.





	Salt and Honey

“Oh, Gwen,” Morgana exclaimed, pressing her nose into the bouquet of forget-me-nots. “You shouldn’t have.”

Gwen smiled nervously. “When I saw them in the market, I thought of you.”

 Morgana frowned. “The market? Gwen, I can’t ask you to spend your pay on me. Here.” She opened her reticule and retrieved three bronze coins. 

 “No,” said Gwen, taking a step back. “It was no trouble. It’s a present.”

 “Thank you, Gwen,” said Morgana, taking a step forward, “but I insist.” She firmly pressed the coins into Gwen’s hand, and Gwen couldn’t help but hold on for a moment. Morgana’s hand was warm in hers. Their eyes locked. 

  _Now she sees_ , Gwen thought hopefully. But after a moment, Morgana laughed and pulled her hand back. 

 “You’re very kind, Gwen,” said Morgana. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She sat at her dressing table and began brushing out her hair.

 “Let me,” said Gwen, putting the coins in her pocket and stepping up behind Morgana. Morgana smelled like hyacinth and roses. Gwen thought it was the best scent in the whole world. And Morgana’s hair was so smooth and thick and dark. For a little while, the only sound was the whisper of the brush through Morgana’s hair. 

 “I do dread these dances,” Morgana said gloomily.

 “Um, no you don’t,” said Gwen, deftly plaiting and pinning a section of hair. “You love scandalizing the court with your outfits.” 

 Morgana laughed. “Yes, I do enjoy that. But I don’t enjoy being passed around like a bauble. I think Uther might try to marry me off soon. If you don’t have a real Pendragon princess, an adopted one is almost as good for forging alliances.”

 Gwen bit down on her cheek. “Oh,” she said, when she could speak. “Well, whoever you marry will be very lucky indeed.”

 “Luckier than I’ll be,” said Morgana. “I’ll probably end up with some toothless, tragically fertile bigot for a husband. In two years, you won’t be able to recognize me through all the children.”

 “I’d be there, though,” said Gwen.

 Morgana was playing absentmindedly with a necklace. “Hmm?”

 “I’d be there,” said Gwen. “The whole time. So I’d recognize you.” 

 Morgana sighed. “You’re so good to me, Gwen. Thank you for being my friend.” 

 Gwen grimaced into the mirror. “My pleasure.” 

 

So. Gwen was going to have to be a little bit more obvious. She waited until a warm spring evening, when Morgana insisted they go for a walk. They went down past the castle into the fields, and Gwen lay out a blanket for them to sit on. 

 “It’s a lovely day,” she said finally. Morgana smiled dreamily up at the sky.

 “It is, isn’t it? Look at that cloud. Does it remind you of anything?”

 Gwen lay on her back next to Morgana. “It looks a little bit like a heart.”

 “Are you joking?” Morgana knocked her leg against Gwen’s. “It’s obviousy a dagger.” 

 “Oh,” said Gwen. “Yes, I suppose I can see that, too.” A warm breeze rolled over them, filling their noses with the scent of sun-baked grass and wildflowers. “Yes, you’re right. A dagger. Very much so. It’s beautiful. The cloud. And the dagger. The cloud-dagger.” Not for the first time, Gwen wished she knew when to stop babbling.

 Morgana’s laugh was sweet as summer rain. “You’re so funny, Gwen.”

 “But if it were a heart, it would be perfect for you,” continued Gwen. “Because you’re so full of heart. You have so much love.”

 “Oh!” said Morgana. “Thank you, Gwen. I guess I’ve learned a lot from you.”

 “Maybe,” Gwen said weakly.

 

The next time, Gwen tried with chocolates. Chocolates were automatically romantic, Gwen figured. You didn’t bring platonic friends chocolate. Chocolates were definitely the food of lovers. She gave it to Morgana in a little green box that was tied with a bit of ribbon. “It’s the color of your eyes,” she said when she handed it over. “The box I mean, not the chocolates.”

This time, Morgana gave her four bronze coins and a hug, before insisting Gwen split the chocolates with her. They ate quite a lot of the stuff and laughed for ages and it would have been perfect if Morgana would just get it already. _You idiot!_ Gwen wanted to yell. _I love you!_

But as it turned out, chocolates couldn’t do all the work for you. Neither could small drawings of a certain pair of green eyes, or a daisy chain, or a steadying hand on Morgana’s shoulder when she seemed ready to explode at Uther. Gwen wished her mother were alive to explain what on earth she was doing wrong. Enough was enough. Gwen would have to put herself on the line. She’d been too timid before. She’d danced around what she wanted to say. But it was getting harder and harder to not kiss Morgana, and she knew she’d have to do something about it soon if she were going to keep her sanity. 

It was an evening like any other, Morgana sitting at her vanity, and Gwen taking down her hair. The locks flowed like rivers between Gwen’s fingers. “I love you.” 

 Morgana turned around in her seat. “Gwen?”

Gwen kept untwisting Morgana’s hair, though her fingers shook. “I realized I loved you when we were fourteen years old, and you saved that puppy with the crushed leg. But even before that, I loved you. I’ve loved you for years. I think of you when I go to sleep, and when I wake up. I dream of you at night, and I dream of you during the day. Whenever I brush your hair, I want to wrap my hands it in and bring your mouth to mine. I—mmf!” 

Morgana’s lips, against hers. Morgana’s tongue soft against her own. Morgana’s hands, warm and powerful around Gwen’s. Their tears mixed together, and everything tasted like salt and honey. Finally, Morgana pulled back, laughing.

“Gods, Gwen, I thought you’d never make your move.” 

 “You mean, you knew this whole time?” said Gwen, surprised. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?” challenged Morgana. 

“Fair enough,” said Gwen, and kissed her love again.

 

 

 

 


End file.
